Spelling Bee: Does it spell problems to hold it on a Saturday?

Were Jewish students disadvantaged last Saturday? At least the good spellers among them?

Arnold Zipper thought so when he attended the regional Spelling Bee in Boca Raton. It was held on a Saturday, the day of rest and worship for traditional Jews.

"I think it disenfranchised many Jewish schools on the outset," says Zipper, a lawyer who lives in Boca Raton and works in Fort Lauderdale.

The Southeastern Regional Scripps Spelling Bee was held at St. Andrew's School, which hosted the contest for the fourth year. More than 140 students from more than 70 elementary and middle schools in four counties took part.

One of them was Zipper's son, Robert, 11, who was representing Del Prado Elementary School in Boca Raton. Zipper said he accompanied Robert despite his misgivings. But during a break, he approached the organizers and asked if the day could be moved next year.

In fairness, Zipper acknowledges he didn’t raise the question until the day of the bee.

School spokesman Carlos Barroso, one of those approached by Zipper, said he would look into changing the day and would send feedback to the sponsors at Scripps. He said no one had complained of the day before. In fact, Lillian Lesser, a student from a Jewish school, won the regional bee last year.

"A day that would accommodate everyone, that would be great," Barroso says. "But I think whatever day we put it on will be a problem."

Finding a day suitable for all religions is admittedly a tricky job. Not only do Jews start the Sabbath on Friday evening, Muslims schedule weekly prayers on Friday afternoon. Jews observe Sabbath through sundown on Saturday; so do Seventh-day Adventists. And Sunday, of course, is the Christian day of worship.

Saturday night? Maybe, maybe not. The spelling bee last weekend lasted nearly five hours. If it began at 7 p.m., it would keep the kids there till midnight.

During the week? Difficult at best. Because it was a regional bee, some of the contestants came from sites as distant as Glades and Hendry counties.